LeTeRs- SUPER CUTE!

Hello again friends! I'm VERY excited about this week's DIY project because it turned out so darn cute! Shawn and I have decided we are going to be doing a DIY Christmas this year to save money (and also because I think he is worried that all of my DIY projects are going to be stacking up around the house). And this week's project is a Christmas gift for someone and I just LOVE it! Ok let's get started with the list of materials:

1. Wooden letters- I waited until the were 50% off at Hobby Lobby at got mine. It ended up costing me less than $1.50/letter. Regular price they are anywhere from $1.99-3.99/letter depending on the style you choose. But they go on sale regularly, so I would just watch the ads!!

2. Scrapbook paper- usually it is around .50-$1.00/sheet, but what I did was again wait until the books of scrapbook paper went 50% off and got like 150 pages for $9.99. The benefit to this, besides it being a way better deal for the money, is the the books usually have a theme to them, so all the pages will match each other if you decide to do what I did and make each letter a different pattern.

3. Mod Podge- you should have some lying around if you did my first week's project, but if not it is around $4.99 for a jar of it and it lasts quite a while. (Reminder: Michaels always has a 40% off coupon each week and this would be a good thing to get with that coupon!)

4. Scissors

5. Paint brush for the Mod Podge (Remember, I wouldn't recommend using a sponge brush on the Mod Podge, it is better to use a brush with bristles). Cost: $1 or less

Now that we have our materials lets get started!! The first thing I did was figure out which pattern I want for each letter. Then I took the first letter and piece of paper and traced the letter onto the paper. HINT: Turn both the letter and the piece of paper upside down or else you will end up tracing it backwards.

After you have the letter traced onto the paper then cut the letter out. Now, on the first letter I did I was going for perfection and realized that is not going to work. The reason is that if the paper is cut to match the letter exactly, then there is no way to mod podge it onto the letter. Plus, it just didn't look very good. So, what I found looked the best was to cut out the letter smaller than what I traced. It actually looks really good not being perfect. HINT: my letters were already white and I'm not sure if it would look as good if it were just the wood color. So, something to consider if you have just the wood color letters is possibly painting them before you put the scrapbook paper on.

After you have your letter cut out place it on the wooden letter to make sure that it looks good. If not, you mat need to cut a little more off here and there. After you have your paper letter looking the way you want it, then set the paper letter to the side and brush mod podge all over the front of the wooden letter.

Next, you want to place the paper letter onto the wooden letter. HINT: Do this carefully or else your paper letter will have bubbles in it. What I found was best was to start at one corner and work my way down and to the right slowly. After you have placed the paper letter onto the wooden letter it is time to mod podge over the top. Do this gently because you are working with wet paper here and if you aren't careful you may end up ripping it. Make sure the ends of the paper letter are covered especially.

The final thing you want to do is use your finger and smooth out any wrinkles and make sure the mod podge is evenly spread throughout. HINT: There will likely be a wrinkle here or there, just press them down as much as possible but don't worry too much about them. They will dry smaller and it gives them character!! Plus, it really isn't all that noticeable. All of mine had at least one wrinkle in it, but I bet you can't find them in the finished pictures!!


After you are done, just set them to the side and let them dry! I can't show you all my final letters just in case the receiver of this gift is checking out these blogs, but here is a picture of some of the letters completed.

My final thoughts: This has been my favorite project so far. The total cost was around $20 (for seven letters), but I also have a lot of scrapbook paper left over to use in the future. I really think they turned out really good and I just hope the receiver of these loves them as much as I do! The only negative I have is that I couldn't figure out how to get all those wrinkles out. Now, they are very small and honestly you really can't even see them, but I'm a perfectionist so it really bothered me at first. It also really didn't take that much time. It maybe took me a little over an hour to do it and I was watching TV at the same time. I think this is a very doable project for anyone!

Overall DIY Grade: A-

Good luck and please feel free to post your finished project and ask any questions or comments! Happy Do It Yourselfing!